Assig-itob



Nov. 11, 1924. 1,515,306 l G. w. HEDSTROM DRYING MACHINE Filed Dec. B, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. ll, 1924 1,515,306

G. w. HEDsTRoM DRYING MACHINE Filed Dec. 8, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 11,1924. 1 1,515,306

l G. W7 HEDSTROM DRYING MACHINE 1 Filed neg. a, 1922 3 shuts-sheet s Patented Nov. 11, 19.124.

inane Application filed hecernner 53, 19M.

To ZZ whom, u muy concern.'

Be .it known that I, Gfiisinv W. I-Inns'rnorr, a citizen or the Ilnited States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county oli Cool( and State of Illinois, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Drying Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following); is a full, clear, and exact description thereor', reference beingl had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters oi' reil'erence marked thereon, which :torni a part oi this specilication.

This invention relates to improvements in drying machines for drying,v articles or films on the articles as the latter pass slowly through a drying?,r chamber oi the machine, and is herein shown as adapted to the type of drying machine shown in my United States Letters Patent No. 1,417 2,417, granted October 30, 1923, wherein can ends, within the grooves of which a sealing compound has been applied, are. slowly advanced through a drying chamber by combined lifting; threads and drivingmeans.

The present improvements relate to means toi' automatically removingcan ends `from the upper end or ends of the stach or stacks oil: can ends by means which facilitate the removal of the can ends :from the machine. and the main or principal object ott the invention is to provide a talie-oli device that is so related to the upper end or ends ott the stack or stacks that the can enes may be removed one at a time into a discharge chute, from which latter the,` said ends may be readily removed. As herein shown a single discharge chute is employed' and mounted. on a iixed part ot' the machine, and in such aposition that one operator. who cares 'for the feeding of the can ends to the machine may also remove the can ends `from said chute.

Another object of the invention is to provide means at the lower end oit the drying; chamber, and at the point where the can ends are fed thereinto, to ell'ect safe delivery of the can ends to the lifting threads without liability oit the can ends being crushed.

Other objects of the invention are to further improve and simplify drying),1 machines for the purpose set "forth, and the invention consists in the yelements and combination of elements shown in the drawings and described in the specification, and

pointed out in the :u'ipcndeil claims.

In the drawin t 'Y Il`inliie l is z- Ve elevation of a drying nmeliiue embed my invention.

Figure is :i plan view thereof.

.ire l is an enlarged view, partially inv section and partially in elevation, and brolren between its ends, of the upper part of the drying1 machine.

lllpjure l is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of aportion of the drying machine and the discharge chute, showing in eleva tion the means lor separately removing or skimming,- the can ends from the upper ends of the stacks in the drying chamber and depositing` them in the discharge Chute.

Figure 5 is a section on the line .f5- ot il? i @ure l.

Figure G is a detail of a latch for holding), closed a safety door at the can end feed slot owl' the drying; chamber.

is shown in said drawings, l0 designates a supporting` standard which is provided at its upper end with wings ll on which are :termed hearings if?, to receive a driving shaft lf3, whose function will presently appear. In the present instance the standard l0 is hol low, and it is provided. near its upper end with a transverse opening),- through which the shait 13 entends. lll designates an upright shell tilted to and supported on said standard, as by means of screw bolts l5 which extend upwardly through the head 16 of the standard and into threaded openings oit a bed plate li; said bed plate being` iiXed to vthe lower margin oi? the shell. lll by screw bolts lfd entendine` through the plate und into threaded openings in the thicliei'ied lowei` margin lil oi the shell. Said shell is 'termed on its inner cylindric wall with a continuous spiral groove extending from end to end there/oli' to constitute the turns f2.0, of a spiral thread; the lower or receiving,1 turn of the thread being; spaced more widely than the next succeeding; or higher threads to facilitate the placement oii the can ends in the shell and engage rhein with Athe thread. 2.9; designates an inner lined member oii exterior cylindr': 'formation and disposed axially within the drying chamber .J3 formed between said shell and inner member. rIhe said inner member is cut on its outer surface with a spiral groove to constitute a thread,

i 20 and 21 of the shell thread.

the turns 24, 25 of which oppose the turns Said inner and outer threads terminate short of the top of the shell 1111. Said shell is surinounted by a funnel-like top 26 tern'iinating in a chimney 27 to assist in creating a draft of air upwardly thi-ough the chamber, admitted through the openings 28 of the plate 17 and intermittently registering openings 29 formed in a gear wheel 29 which rests and turns on the plate 17, as in the construction shown in my aforesaid application.

The can ends are delivered to a feed open ing 30 at the bottom of the shell into contact with the opposed inner and outer lifting threads; the can ends being directed to said opening by a suitable horizontal guide chute 31 which, in practice, receives vthe can ends from a machine that applies the sealing coinpound to the marginal grooves of the ends. The feeding of the cans may be effected manually or automatically and, as herein shown, a feed paWl 32, operated in any suitable manner, is shown as a part of an automatic mechanism for feeding the can ends through thechute 31. The can ends are guided into the influence of said threads by an upper eX- tension 32 of the guide chute and an angle bracket 22l lixed to the inner threaded inember 22.

Rising from the gear Wheel 29, which is rotated from the shaft 13 through the beveled gearsBS, the shaft 34, and a pinion 35, are a plurality of upstanding drive rods 35 which are revolved through the drying chamber and serve by contact withy the edges of the can ends to force them along the inner and outer threads of the snell and central member 22, and thereby slowly move the can ends through the drying chamber in the manner described in my aforesaid application.

In addition to said drive rods, there are provided at the lower end of the drying chamber short upstanding studs 37 which are iXed to the gear ivheel 29 and are located With their upper ends near the plane of the top of the feed slot 30. Said studs are angularly spaced frein the drive rods 36, and their function is, first, to steady the can ends when fed into the lifting threads of the chamber, by reason of the two points of coni tact afforded by the drive rods and said studs, and, second, to eject can ends which may be improperly received at the lower end of the' drying chamber. for any reason, as, for instance, after the machine hasv been stopped and it is again started with a can end only partially received by the lower, yvider, lifting threads 20. For this purpose the said studs 3'? co-operate with a release door 38 at the end of and in line with the receiving slot 30, the door forming one end of the slot. Said door isV hinged at 39 to the Wall of the shell 14. The door is provided with a hand piece 4t() by `tvhich it may be manually opened. The said door is normally locked in its closed position by a light actii g spring latch which is readily overcome by slight pressure of an improperly placed can end driven there iinst by one o t the ejector studs 37. The torni of latch shown com prises a spherical detent ft2 Vwhich parA tially received in a downwmfdly opening` concave recess in the bottoni ol" the door, and is upheld in said recess by r. light spring that is anchored to and is enclosed within an opening in a tired part ol the :.rncturo. as best shown in Figures l and l5. The said door is adapted to be quickly opened when the latch is overcome by r. light spring itl which is attached at one end to the outer sido of the shell, crosses the hinge of the release. or ejector door, and attached to said door beyond said hinge. The curved position of the spring, by reason of its attachment to the curved Wall and door, when the door is closed, normally renders the spring ine-.illective when the door is closed, but renders it active to auiclrly open the door when the door is fort-od slightly open.

The said drive rods 3G terminate short of the top of the shell 14 and at about the level of the uppermost turns of the lifting threads oit said shell and the central inember 22, as best shoivn in Figure 3. Located at one side of the shell and above the dry- :ing chamber is a heavy ring 45. Said ring extends beyond the shell 14:, and terminates radially short of the inner threaded meinber 22. .lft is fixed to the structure by screw bolts 126, 4157, the former extending through the ring into the upper edge of the shell l/l. and the latter extending radially through one arm of a bracket 4S, the latter of which is fixed as by a bolt. 49 to the inner threaded member 22, as best shown in gures 4t and 5.

50 designates a plate Which constitutes the major portion of the bottoni of the ring` 45 which latter is open at its upper end. Said plate extends inv-Jardly beyond the center of the ring and is formed at its inner margin vvith a downwardly and inwardly beveled curved edge 51. The said plate is located at about the level of the uppermost lifting threads and in position to engage under the margins of the topinost can ends of the stacks as the latter pass beneath the plate of the ta-lreolf device. The relation of said curved edge 51 and its general anglo to the axis of the ring l5 is such that the beveledlifting edge 51 passes smoothly under the topmostcan end of a stack as the latter passes beneath the plate, so that said can ends are successively lifted or skimmed i A lill and its skimming edge 5l, which latter lies inwardly beyond the axis of the ring 50, is such that the can ends are successively forced on to said plate 51. By reason of the fact that the skimming edge 5l is lower than the upper face of the plate 50, it will be obvious that when a can end is lifted on to the upper face of said plate 50, it will be thereby supported by reason of the width of the said plate 50, and that the nent succeed-- ing can end to be lifted by the edge 5l will cause the latter can end to be forcedbetween the previously lifted can end and said plate thereby serving to move the latter can end into axial relation to the ring, with the last lifted can end beneath the same in position to be likewise forced inwardly by the next succeeding lifted can end. In this manner the can ends will be successively segregated from the stacks, and said ends, as they accumulate in the ring, are gradually raised by the coaction of the last turns of the threads and the beveled lifting edge of the plate through the ring 45.

In order to afford a discharge chute of ample length to receive a stack of can ends, the uppermost ones of which are manually lifted therefrom, three or more upstanding guide rods 52 are fixed to said ring to constitute the boundaries of the discharge chute.

It will be obvious that I have provided an exceedingly simple, effective and co1npact means to successively segregate the can ends from the top of the stack and to lift them away from the driving chamber, to be thereafter manually removed from the discharge chute thus formed. 1While the details of the particular illustrated embodiment have been described with considerable particularity, it will be understood that said details may be varied within the spirit and scope of the appended claims; therefore, it is not the intent to limit the invention to the illustrated details except as to claims wherein they are specifically set forth and as imposed by the prior art.

I claim:

l.. A drying machine for the purpose set forth having an annular drying chamber, and having means to advance therethrough can ends in revolving vertical stacks with the ends in each stack spaced from each other, and a fixed discharge chute provided at its bottom with means to shim the can ends from the tops of said stacks as the latter revolve thereunder.

2. A drying machine for the purpose set forth having an annular drying chamber, and having means to advance therethrough can ends in revolving vertical stacks with the ends in each stack spaced from each other, and a fixed discharge chute provided at its bot tom with means to skim the can ends from the tops of said stacks, said skimming means co-operating with the can head advancing means to discharge the can heads through said chute by pressure of can ends `which follow.

3. il, drying machine for the puspose set forth comprising` avvertical annular drying chamber having` lifting threads on its walls to engage with the can end rims, means acting on can ends fed into said chamberl and cdoperating with said threads to cause the can ends to travel through said chamber in angularly spaced revolving stacks and with the ent s in each stack spaced from each otherj and a. lined vertical discharge chute pro'- vided at its lower end with acan end skimming platc provided with a beveled lifting edge in position to engage under the topmost can ends of the stacks as they successively pass beneath the plate,

a. drying machine comprising inner and outer spiral lift threads forming between them an annular' drying chamber, driving means to engage said can ends while resting on said threads to cause the can ends to travel through said drying chamber, a fixed discharge chute and a skimming plate at the bottom thereof having an inner curved beveled edge to engage under the topmost can ends and to transfer them to said chute.

5. fr drying machine for the purpose set :forth comprising an annular drying chamber with means for admitting can ends thereto to be arranged in parallel groups with the groups angularly spaced about the chamber, combined lifting threads and can. end driviiuil means to engage the ends, said means for. admitting the can ends embracing a slot opposite the lower lifting threads, and means for rejecting a can end that is im-A properly directed into said chamber to said lifting threads to avoid crushing the improperly directed can ends.

6, A drying machine for the purpose set forth comprising an annular drying chamber with means for admitting can ends thereto to be arranged in parallel groups with the groups angular-ly spaced about the chamber, combined lifting threads and can end driving means to engage the ends, said means for admitting the can ends embracing a slot op posit-e the lower lifting threads and a door hinged to a wall of the drying chamber at one end said slot having a light spring held latch i g i'. AY drying machine for the purpose set forth comprising an annular drying chamber with means for admitting can ends thereto to be arranged in parallel groups with the groups angularly spaced about the chamber, combined lifting threads and can end driving means to engage the ends, said means for ad` mittinlej the can ends embracing a slot opposite the lower lifting threads, and a door hinged to a wall of the drying chamber at one end of said slot having a light spring held latch, and a spring connected to said Wall and saiddoor and acting to quickly open said door when said latch is overcome. 8. A drying machine for the purpose `set 'forth comprising an annular drying chamber bounded by inner and outer cylindric Walls, co-op'erating'lifting threads on seid Walls adapted to be engaged by the margins of can `ends,` revoluble driving rods extending throughsaid chamber to engage the margins of the can ends to exert eccentric driving force thereon to rotate said ends7 a Wall of the drying chamber being provided at the lower turns of said threads with a. slot to admit can ends to said chambers, short studs angularlyv spaced from said rods to engage the lowermost can ends as they are 'ted through said slot, and a swingingv normally latchedl door at the end of said slot adapted to beforced open by force of en improperly delivered can end driven thereagainst by :i short stud. t

Inwvitness` whereof I claim the foregoing as my invention, I hereunto append my signature this 28th day of November, 1922. GUSTAV W. HEDSTROM. 

